


Flower Gleam and Glow

by SimplyEssa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 2 but, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Lance (Voltron), Blood and Injury, Disney Universe Ending, Flowers, Hurt Keith (Voltron), M/M, Protective Lance (Voltron), Romantic Ending, Vomit, Whump, if u look at it in a certainty way, it doesnt go into details at all, kind of a tangled ending, p a i n, sifof, theres a couple of ocs, theyre kind of just mentioned, uhhh what do i normally tag, we die like men unBETAD, you know who gets hurt its me guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-21 16:18:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14288718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyEssa/pseuds/SimplyEssa
Summary: They watch the flowers begin to bloom, while he bleeds out in Lance's arms.He couldn't think of a better way to go.





	Flower Gleam and Glow

**Author's Note:**

> n o k e i t h d o e s n t d i e d o n t l e t t h e s u m m a r y m i s l e a d y o u

“Get away from him!"

Lance's voice pierces through the fog that has enveloped his mind, loud and clear. So, so very loud. 

He groans pitifully, trying to raise his arms to cover his ears as Lance continues to yell-

"Don't fucking touch him- Keith!"

But finds that he can't-

"Let go-  _Keith!_ "

His breath stutters in his chest. Why won't his arms move?

"No- no, don't-"

There's a sharp, burning pain that blooms in the back of his head as someone starts screaming (it's- is it him?).

" _Keith!"_  

He feels himself jerk against the... the grass... the purple grass... as pain continues to wrap around his skull and consume the rest of his body.

_"Stop-"_

Was that Lance?

Where'd Lance go?

He... Lance was with him... during the meetings... but... they weren't there anymore... they left...

The scream that he had previously forgotten about, even though it was him screaming, broke down into a pitiful whine, which led to pained whimpers that crawled up his throat and broke free, no matter how hard he tried to make them stop.

When they... left the building- no, no, it was a castle- it was a castle full of green aliens with tentacles and fangs- something had... had...

The pain leaves.

* * *

"Tell your Leader we would love to join the Coalition, Paladin of Red," Their queen smiles at Lance, completely ignoring Keith, who stood beside him, stiff as a wooden plank and arms crossed tightly against his chest, fingers digging into his biceps. Lance's smile wavers, anger flaring up in his chest. They can't just  _ignore_ Keith. He's been saving the universe too! He manages to keep his smile on, if tight, as she tells two of her personal guards to escort them out.

When the guards flank both of their sides, he nearly loses it as they shove _Keith_ forwards but _not_ him. He grits his teeth, tries not to let his smile falter, and forces a stiff, polite nod at the guard beside him as they escort them- well, they mostly just shove Keith, pushing Lance’s patience to the limit- to the entrance of the palace. 

As their feet set down on the purple, soft grass, the guard shoves Keith- sorry, he ‘accidentally bumps into’- a little too hard, sending Keith stumbling forwards, and unable to catch his footing, he gets pushed again and he falls on his face.

”Hey!” Lance shouts, stalking towards the guard that had been pushing Keith the entire time, face wrapped in anger. He wants to wring this guys neck, but he knows because of the damn diplomacy Allura wants them to establish, he can’t. He’ll settle with yelling, for now. “Watch where you’re going, fuckface. Stop shoving him.”

“Of course, Paladin,” The guard says, emotionless. “I apologize.”

Lance huffs and spins around, throwing a glare over his shoulder. He lowers himself to where Keith is kneeling, back hunched and hands in tight fists. He places his hands over Keith’s fists, slowly unwinding them. “Hey,” he says, much softer, rubbing small circles into Keith’s fingers, trying to force down any lingering anger. He offers a small smile as Keith looks up, mask still in place. “You okay?”

Keith offers a nod, his fists relaxing and making it easier for Lance to pry them apart. Lance smiles again, genuinely, ignoring when the guard who shoved Keith makes an impatient sound. He, once again, has to stop himself from wringing the guards neck. “Calm down,” he murmurs, taking Keith’s hand and standing up, allowing Keith to use his hand to pull himself up. “It’s gonna be fine, this guy is just a bitch, okay?”

He hears an irritated noise behind him ( _please, as if they even know what bitch means_ ), nearly drowning out the small ‘okay’ Keith gives in return. He leads Keith back to the guards, this time making sure to be beside the guard who hadn’t been treating Keith with respect. He’ll bring it up to Allura later, who’ll hopefully bring it up with their queen and get this fucking _moron_ fired.

They manage three more steps before all hell breaks loose.

There’s shouts and screams, the smell of fire as a few of the aliens, decked in black armour with masks covering their faces, running towards them. Lance’s first instinct is to get Keith the hell out of here, but before he can even turn his head, his arm is being wrenched behind his back, painfully tight, and the nozzle of a blaster is pressed against the back of his skull.

The guard forces him to turn around, to face Keith, who had managed to knock out the other guard. His eyes are wide, and there’s a cut on his cheek, but other than that, he seems mostly fine. His mask had been knocked off, laying in the bloody, purple grass near where the soldier had fallen.

Lance jerks against the aliens grip, gritting his teeth and trying to break free, but they hold tighter, tearing a pained gasp out of his throat as his arm is pulled too harshly.

Keith moves forward, blade glinting in the sunlight (suns? The planet has three suns...) with blue blood, raised threateningly. Before Keith gets any closer, a whirr indicates that the blaster pressed against his skull is starting up. “Stay where you are,” the guard orders, voice rough, and Keith freezes in his tracks, scowling. 

Lance debates shoving his elbow into the guards gut, but that could only end up in more trouble for both of them, and he needs to keep Keith safe. He lets it lay tense at his side, fingers itching to summon his bayard.

He meets Keith’s eye as the guard yells something in his native language, which leads to two more aliens coming over. The rest run towards the palace, where non-rogue guards are coming out, to see what all the commotion is about. Keith’s eyes are wide, full of desperation and a slight hint of panic. Lance offers a smile despite their situation, earning the barest twitch of Keith’s lips.

The two guards who came over flank either side of Keith, grabbing an arm each. Keith complies reluctantly, muscles tense and teeth grinding. He sees the moment a muscle in Keith’s jaw jumps, prepared to break free and fight, as his blade is taken away, but shakes his head, knowing that it will only hurt Keith more. Keith frowns, clearly wanting to disobey Lance and fight until he collapses from pain and exhaustion, but doesn’t make a move.

They force Keith’s arms behind his back, pulling out what looks like rope and tying it around his wrists. Keith’s eyes go wide as it touches his skin, but he quickly squeezes them shut. Lance watches, confused, as Keith begins to take deep breaths and as his throat bobs as he swallows, slowly. 

The guard behind him lets out a satisfied little hum, before knocking something against his temple. Pain erupts at the back of his skull, and it flares again, until he can see nothing but darkness.

* * *

When he wakes up, his head is throbbing painfully in time with his heart. His arms are secured in front of him, but his legs are free. His eyes flutter open, only to be greeted with a harsh, orange light, making him wince with a pained groan and close them again. He clenches his teeth and tries again, ignoring the painful sting in his eyes at the bright light as he squints.

He moves, grunting, trying to free his hands from whatever they’ve wrapped around his wrists. It looks like green bark, still accompanied with leaves that look like flowers, as if they had just ripped it off their version of trees.

He grunts again, trying and failing to push himself into a sitting position.

”Lance?” The voice- no, Keith’s voice, comes from behind him, rough and quiet, sounding strained. “Are you a-awake?”

”Three guesses,” he mumbles, flipping himself around to try and find Keith. His eyes get used to the bright light and, despite the probable concussion, he opens his eyes fully. 

He sucks in a sharp breath when he finds him.

Keith is laying on his side, nose bleeding and lip split. He has a black eye around his left eye, already beginning to swell, and the cut from earlier has grown bigger and jagged, as if one of the aliens had stuck their tentacles into it and forced it open. His eyes slowly travel down Keith’s body, trying to figure out the full extent to Keith’s injuries. There’s nothing major, except for that his left leg is limp and unmoving, and the other is kicking against the ground, trying to help Keith sit-up. Probably.

Keith lets out a pained gasp when Lance’s eyes return to his face, but he quickly closes his mouth, ducking his head, eyes closed.

”Keith?” He blinks tiredly, world spinning. He tries to focus on Keith’s twitching body- all except for his left leg- but there’s three of him... “Wha’s wrong?”

If Keith notices the slurring, he doesn’t say anything. He looks up, chin wobbling and cracks an eye open. Lance is shocked to find it filled with tears and clouded over with _agony_.

Keith opens his mouth, tongue moving to answer him, but he gasps again, letting out a pained whine instead. His body trembles against whatever it is that’s hurting him, and his arms randomly jerk. 

Had he been electrocuted?

”Keith!” He needs to keep Keith awake, if that’s the case. He can’t risk Keith going into a coma, or even dying because he couldn’t keep his best friends ( he wishes it could be more, he wishes, but it would never come true) eyes open. “Look’t me, c’mon...” 

Sniffling, Keith lifts his head, only by a fraction, and lets his eye open to a slit. A tear trails out the corner of his closed eye, but Lance ignores it, dragging his body closer as best as he can with cuffed wrists. “Y...yeah?” 

Lance would’ve grinned if they weren’t in this situation; He’s proud of Keith for pushing through whatever pain is haunting him and letting Lance know that he’s not dying, not yet, and definitely not on Lance’s watch.

“What’s- Where are you hurt?” He manages to make himself sit up, head starting to throb again, but ignores it in favour of helping Keith.

Keith blinks slowly, as if uncomprehending, before opening his mouth. “‘s the ropes...” he says, shakily, weakly grasping for Lance’s knee, or arm, or something. Lance offers his tied together hands, to which Keith clings onto, fingers shaking. “‘n the... leg...”

Lance looks at his limp left leg, which seems to be twisted in the wrong direction. He winces in sympathy, before turning his eyes to the rope around Keith’s knees and wrists and neck. The skin around his neck is red and enflamed, slowly trickling blood. His wrists and knees must be the same. “Okay, okay,” How is he supposed to help? He can’t- he can’t set Keith’s leg, because he doesn’t know where it’s broken, and he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to untie Keith with his own wrists tied together. “How does it hurt?”

”’s like...” Keith purses his lips, another tear breaking free. It’s followed by another, then another, and another, before they stop. Lance’s heart yearns to comfort him and brush the tears away, but by the way Keith’s weak fingers manage to tighten when he pulls away slightly, he can’t make himself let go. “...burning? No-n...no, f-freezing..?”

“Alright, okay,” Lance mumbled, more to himself than anything. He let go of Keith’s hands, heart cracking when Keith let out the saddest noise he’s ever heard, wrapping his fingers around the rope. Lance didn’t feel anything except for the rough texture, so he pulled at it, trying to tear it away from Keith’s skin. The more he pulled, the hotter it felt, and Lance yanked his hands away with a sharp gasp as Keith cries out. “Sorry, sorry, oh my god,” he says, pulling Keith’s hands back into his. “You’re okay, it’s okay...”

”Well,” A familiar voice says, and Keith stiffens, hands tight in his. He curls his fingers towards Lance’s palm, shaking. Lance pulls him closer, trying not to hurt him, trying to offer some form of comfort. “Isn’t this... disgusting.”

Lance bites down a scream of rage, forcing himself to not gouge the guard’s eyes out with his bare hands. “What did you do to him,” he demands, looking- no, glaring over his shoulder at the same guard as before approaches them, something sparking between its tentacles. Three aliens covered in black armour follow him, eyes hidden behind a black visor. “What did you do?” He shouts when they don’t answer, eyes narrowed threateningly, he hopes.

”Tie his hands and...” he pokes where his knee would be on his body, cream coloured eyes filled with confusion. “Those... joints, they’re quite odd, and his neck. Everything else is because of his DNA.”

Lance grits his teeth, turning his head back towards Keith. Keith’s head is ducked, hair covering his beaten face, body trembling, all except for his left leg. “So his DNA broke his leg?”

”No,” The guard walks towards them, behind Keith’s back, and before Lance can stop him, places a well aimed kick in the centre of it. Keith wails, wet cheek squished in the purple grass. The guard laughs as fury overcomes Lance. “He was struggling too much.”

Lance bites his own tongue, squeezing Keith’s nearly limp hands in reassurance, as if to say he _’s here, he’s here, he’s here._ “If you let us go now, we can still allow you to join the Coalition,” he grows, lying, because there is no way Lance is letting them off this planet once they leave. 

“Oh, but,” the guard growls, raising his foot in the air. Lance tries to cover Keith’s body with his own, but he’s forcefully yanked away by the collar of his armour. He still managed to have a hold on Keith’s fingers, tightening his hold by a fraction. “I do not care about the Coalition. Whether or not we join it isn’t a matter to me, Paladin,” He brings his foot down on Keith’s side, earning an anguished scream from Keith’s split lip as the sound of bones crunching fills the meadow. Keith’s screams flicker down into gasping coughs, blood trailing down his chin from his reopened split lip. 

Lance grits his teeth and pulls against the guard holding him, to no avail. Keith’s fingers slip from his grasp, falling onto the purple grass.

”Paladin,” The guard says, foot still on Keith’s side, pupilless eyes watching his movements. “Why would you trust a Galra?”

”Not all Galra are bad,” he spits, glaring at the guard. He tries to rip the bark off his wrists, but it’s too strong. He’d have to dislocate his thumb, and he has no idea how to do that. “There are resistance groups fighting against the Galra Empire that are made of the Galra species! His group is one of them,” he gestured to Keith, bright and uncaring anger burning through him. “And they saved your planet when you were being taken over!”

”They destroyed our village.”

”W-we... didn’t m-mean to,” Keith gasps out, turning his head as far as he could to look at the guard holding him down. Lance’s eyes widen, wanting to yell at Keith to stop talking, before he got even more hurt. “I-it was... the v-village, o-or... the whole plan-“

The guard grabs a fistful of Keith’s hair, pulling his head up while keeping his foot on Keith’s body. Keith let’s out a pained whimper, eyes fluttering shut. “Quiet,” the guard hisses, dropping Keith’s head backnonto the ground. “I did not give you permission to speak.”

“He doesn’t need permission,” Lance growls, jerking against the iron grip on his collar.

”All Galra need permission from their owners,” the guard grins. Shock courses through Lance’s body as he freezes, uncomprehending. He doesn’t _own_ Keith! Just as he thinks that, the guard takes something from a pouch on his belt, and attaches it to Keith’s neck, alongside the rope-

It’s a collar.

”W-wha- L...Lance-“

”Get that off of him right now,” Lance orders, to which the guard just laughs. 

“You have no right to be ordering me around, Paladin,” the guard says, attaching something to the back of Keith’s head that connects to the collar. He stands up straight, taking foot off Keith’s side, and pulls out a remote. Keith’s body jerks and starts screaming as it’s pressed.

* * *

“So, Paladin,” The guard says, putting the remote back into his pouch. Lance glares at him, tears in his eyes, as he watches Keith pant and mumble his name, over and over again, as blood drips from his mouth and nose, from the dozen of mental attacks they just placed on him. His heart breaks. “You wanted this off of him, correct?”

”Yes!” Lance shouts, sniffling and trying to force tears down. He doesn’t take his eyes off Keith’s randomly twitching body. “Please, take it off him, please.”

“Since you asked so nicely,” the guard mocks, removing the collar from Keith’s neck.

Lance swallows a sob at the sight- the nasty blisters, swelling, puss and blood all mixing together and dripping into the ground below. Keith gasps out a sob as it’s removed, tears trailing down his cheeks.

”Let us go,” he pleads, trying to get away from the one holding him, to touch Keith, to comfort him, make him feel safe again. “Please, we’re not- stop hurting him, please.”

”I suppose we could,” The guard considers, and hope sparks in Lance’s chest. They could go back to the Castle, and Keith could be healed, could be safe, and Allura could blow this planet to smithereens- “Put him out of his misery.”

Lance’s heart drops. “N-no, don’t, don’t touch him!”

”L...Lan...ce?” Keith mumbles, eyes barely cracked open, unfocused and foggy with pain. The two other guards, who had been standing off to the side, move to Keith, and one cuts the ropes on his wrists away. Keith sucks in a shaky breath as the guard each grab an arm, forcing him to his knees. “L...La...nce... w...here...?”

Keith cries out as the guards stretch his arms out as far as they can go, weight on his broken and good leg. His head hangs forwards, blood dripping down his chin.

”Keith- Keith, it’s,” he swallows thickly, blinking away tears as the guard behind him grabs both of his arms. “It’s gonna be okay.”

The guard behind him chuckles as Keith lets out a weak ‘okay’ and ‘I trust you’. 

“You shouldn’t trust him,” the guard says, pulling his sword out of his sheath. He pressed his boot against Keith’s back, pushing Keith forwards. Keith groans when the grip on his arm is no doubt putting pain on his shoulders. “Why do you lie to your friend?”

”I’m not.”

The guard hums, examining his golden sword in the three suns light. “Alright, Paladin, if that is what you believe.”

Lance doesn’t managed to get another sound out as the blade is plunged through Keith’s back, tip breaking through his chest.

”Keith!”

The guard twists his swords a few times as Keith screams before pulling it out. Blood steadily leeks through the new hole, dripping onto the now turned red grass. The guards holding his arms drop Keith onto the ground, and the one behind him lets go of him. They leave them there, walking back towards what he assumes is the palace.

Lance quickly drags himself to Keith’s prone body, grunting as he tries to break the bark around his wrists.

It snaps after a few seconds, and Lance sobs in relief, pulling Keith into his arms, onto his lap, as an orange glow begins to fill the meadow they’re in.

”Keith, Keith, please be okay, please,” he pats Keith’s cheek a few times, trying to get him to wake up. After a few more times of tears dripping on Keith’s pale, too pale, face and slaps to his cheeks, he coughs weakly, specks of blood splattering onto his face, eyes fluttering open. “Oh my god, oh my god, Keith, can you hear me?”

Keith blinks dazedly, looking around the field they’re in, at the new orange glow as the three suns begin to set. “‘s or’nge...”

Lance laughs, giddy, as he places his hands over Keith’s chest, trying to stem the bleeding. “Y-yeah, it’s orange.”

Keith pulls at a long green strand of grass as it begins to grow out of the ground, orange petals at the top of it.

“K...K’livan tol’me ‘bout these...” He murmurs, blood trailing down his chin. 

“Yeah? What do they do?” Lance asks, throat choked up with emotions and sobs, because _Keith is bleeding out in his arms and talking about flowers._

 _“_ They...” Keith’s eyes flutter shut, his breathing growing more shallow. 

“Keith, nope, no, don’t do this to me, don’t do this! Don’t die!”

* * *

He doesn’t feel anything anymore.

When the sword had been pushed through his chest- he knows, he saw the tip of it glinting in the suns light- the pain was beyond imagineable, excruciating. But now... now he feels nothing but the warmth of Lance’s tears falling on his face and his warm hands pressing down on his chest.

He pulls the orange flower out of the ground, weakly, feeling his energy drain from him. He doesn’t open his eyes, doesn’t hear Lance yelling at him very well. He knows he’s dying.

He takes Lance’s hand away from his chest, cracking his eyes open. He pressed the glowing flower into Lance’s hand, stem breaking in half. Something drips out of it, into his chest. It stings, but e doesn’t really feel it.

”They... he s-said ‘s a... a sign o’love,” he offers a shaky smile, a burning pain bursting in his chest. He gasps, fingers trying to grasp at his chest, eyes wide.

He swallows thickly, ears ringing, trying to ignore the excruciating pain burning through his skin as whatever drips into his wound does something to him.

He watches with Lance as the flowers begin to bloom, bleeding out in Lance’s arms.

 

Dying in Lance’s arms.

 

 

 

He can’t think of a better way to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Keith..?”

He watches, ants sized and confused, as the glow from the flower (the flower Keith gave him, the last thing he’ll ever get from Keith) fades when the stem breaks, and the same orange glow begins to bloom in Keith’s chest, where the wound was situated.

Was.

The skin begins to knit itself back together, and the wounds on Keith’s neck disappears, fading back to pale skin. His leg- he can’t even describe what happened to his leg, he just knows that it looks right and it’s gradually shaking. The cut on his cheek, the black eye, bloody nose and split lip all fade away, revealing pale, unblemished skin.

”What..?”

Keith remains unconscious even as the glow disappears, limp in Lance’s arms, but breathing. Alive.

Now that Keith isn’t fatally wounded, he places the flower inside the chest plate of his armour, and places his arms around Keith’s shoulders and underneath his knees, lifting him into the air.

There’s still blood on his armour, and he’s thinner than before, but he’s alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once a year, on planet Planry Ploria, there are orange, glowing flowers that bloom. They have healing properties, and they grow in a meadow filled with purple grass, that only a select few know about, at the setting of the three suns. If given in the correct manner, which would be extracting the glow from the pedals, the person dying could be saved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> ILY GUYS  
> (unbetad, i forgot some italics oops)  
> kudos r always good but u don’t have too, normal ending notes stuff blah blah blah my battery is at 2% bye


End file.
